


The Good Side

by myblueworld



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, M/M, Post-Break Up, musician keith
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-20
Updated: 2018-01-20
Packaged: 2019-03-07 00:36:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13422978
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/myblueworld/pseuds/myblueworld
Summary: Alternate Universe. Keith was a musician who broke up with Lance three years ago. Now he met up again with Lance, and he felt like he owed Lance an apology.





	The Good Side

**Author's Note:**

> Loosely based on Troye Sivan's song, The Good Side.

* * *

It was still a bit cold for Spring. But at least, the cold was not as freezing as in Winter. As Keith walked on the pavement, he could see the green grass peeking in, like sparks of a new hope.

 _A new hope of a new life_ , Keith quietly thought to himself, as his feet took him to the coffee shop.

Keith stopped in front of the once-so-familiar door. He pulled down the hood of his sweater as he looked up at the sign above the door.

It hasn’t changed.

It was weird, but also kind of comforting to find that there were things that remained the same, even after so many other things have changed.

Keith pushed the door open and stepped in.

It was still early, maybe even too early considering it was a Saturday morning. So there were not many people in the coffee shop. There was only an old man, reading a newspaper and didn’t seem to care about the world around him. And of course, there was Shiro, standing behind the counter.

Shiro looked up at Keith from something that he was reading. Once their eyes met, his brows raised up as his eyes widened.

“Keith?”

Keith smiled as he walked closer to the counter.

“Shiro,” he said, nodding at the barista. “How are you?”

“I’m good. Same old thing.” Shiro laughed lightly. “How are you?” Shiro asked back as he crossed his arms over the counter, leaning forward.

“I’m…alright?” Keith said, running his hand over his head a bit awkwardly.

Shiro tilted his head, smiling knowingly. “I thought you have forgotten about me. And this coffee shop.”

Keith chuckled.  “No, of course no,” he said as he shook his head. He was not lying. He would never forget how Shiro let him sit for hours in one of the corners as he tried to come up with something good enough for his songs.

“I’m sorry that… I’ve been… you know…” Keith’s voice faltered as he realized he didn’t really know what to say. All the tour and recording session and everything had taken his time. But he was not sure that those were reasons good enough to lost contact with his old friends. He was not sure how to explain how busy he had been without sounding like he was showing off.

Shiro smiled knowingly at him. “It’s okay,” he said. “I know you’ve been busy. And it’s nice, you know? Knowing that you’ve been doing well with your music.”

Keith looked up, meeting Shiro’s eyes and smiled. “Thanks, Shiro.”

Shiro nodded. “Anyway,” he said, rubbing both hands on his apron. “What brings you here today?”

That question made Keith realize his first reason of why he came here.

“I’m…meeting someone here.”

Shiro arched a questioning eyebrow. “Is it someone I know?”

“Lance.”

There was a second of silence once the name slipped from his lips.

Just a second of silence, but enough for Keith to realize how long had it been since the last time he said the name in front of other people, instead of just whispering the name into the silence of dark sleepless nights.

Shiro did not actually look surprised. If there was any expression on his face, it was just a hint of concern.

“Okay, then,” he said, nodding at Keith. “What can I get you while you’re waiting?”

“Just a cappuccino, please?” Keith said, grateful that Shiro didn’t ask anything further.

“Sure,” Shiro smiled. “It will be right up.”

“Thanks,” Keith said. He turned around on his heels and made his way to the rows of tables in the coffee shop.

Keith took a seat on the table in the corner, right next to the window. He fished his phone out, the one that he used only for personal matters. He had another one that he used for work that he left at home. It’s one of his rare day-offs, and he didn’t want to be reminded of the other world where he had responsibilities as a professional in his field.

He had enough of his profession came in the way of his personal life.

He checked the time. He knew that he was early. It was not exactly 9 o’clock yet. And to be honest, Keith did not expect Lance to be on time. He knew Lance.

 _No, scratch that. I used to know Lance_ , Keith thought, quite bitterly. _It’s been three years. Maybe he has changed._

Keith looked up to the door when he heard the bell rang cheerfully as the door pushed open.

His heart skipped a beat when he saw Lance stepped in.

He froze as he watched Lance walked to the counter and greeted Shiro.

Keith could only see Lance’s back from where he was sitting. But he could still imagine the half-smile that he knew Lance was wearing as he watched Shiro talking to Lance.

He wrote that one song while thinking about that half-smile.

Lance turned around on his heels, and in an instant, their eyes met.

Keith thought he was ready.

He was wrong. Because as Lance walked towards him, that half-smile curling up just a little wider, Keith wondered what it was on his minds that made him decided to walk away.

“Keith! Hey!” Lance greeted him as he stopped next to the table.

Keith stared at him. “Hey,” he said.

For a split second, he wondered what he should do. How should you greet someone who used to be your boyfriend when you meet him again after three years?

Should he stand up and hug him?

Should he shake his hand?

But Lance already sat down on the chair in front of him, folding his arms on the table.

“So,” he said, tilting his head as he kept his eyes level at Keith’s. “What’s up, Keith?”

The smile on his lips was soft and genuine, and his eyes looked warm.

Keith hated to remember that he once made those eyes looked so hollow and broken.

“How have you been?” Lance asked.

Keith bit his lower lip. A strange feeling of guilt creeping in.  A broken relationship sometimes was not even.

They broke up, and while Keith signed a contract with a recording company, Lance continued his part-time job in a bookshop.

He moved to New York, where his recording company had a headquarter, and Lance stayed here in this college town where everything was more quiet in Summer.

He traveled the world while Lance struggled with his study before he finally got his degree in Computer Engineering.

“I’m…good,” Keith said, nodding at Lance, trying to smile.

He felt like he owed an apology.

“Good to hear that,” Lance said, his smile didn’t slip away, his eyes kept on shining. “Your songs are everywhere, you know. It’s almost felt like you've never left this town,” Lance said and laughed lightly.

Keith wondered whether Lance knew that the songs were about him. That the songs were about them. About a love story that was once so good but had to end anyway.

“How about you?” Keith asked. He knew bits and pieces of what had been happening with Lance from what Pidge told him. But he wanted to hear it from Lance. So he could tell Lance how proud he was of him for all the things that he had done. How happy he was to see that Lance had moved on.

Lance grinned. “I graduated last year,” he said. “And let me tell you one thing, you are now talking to one of the system developers in Altea.”

“Really?” Keith raised his brows. “That’s great! Tell me more.”

Lance grinned. He started talking. And for a while, Keith felt like they were back to the good old times five years ago, when they just had their first date here in this coffee shop, at the exact same table.

More than an hour later, it was Keith’s phone going off that stopped their conversation. The screen showed the picture of the caller, and Keith quickly swiped his finger on the screen to reject the call. But when he looked up at Lance again, he knew that it was too late.

There was something bittersweet in Lance’s small smile.

“So the rumor is true, huh?” Lance said.

The guilt clenched his heart as Keith quickly shoved his phone into his pocket.

“It wasn’t…” he stopped, because telling Lance that it was not like what it looked like would be a lie. What should he tell him then?

That it just happened? That it was not his plan but before he knew it, it already went a little bit too far?

Keith bit his lower lip, frantically trying to find something to say.

But Lance already leaned forward a little.

“Hey,” Lance said. “Don’t worry. I won’t break the news to any gossip magazine,” he said. He grinned like he was joking, but the light in his eyes was too dim.

Keith tried to stretch his lips into a smile. “Thanks,” he said, hoping that Lance would understand.

Lance stared at him in silence for a while with a strange expression.

“Is it true, though?”

Something constricted in Keith’s chest as he gave him a single nod.

“Is he treating you well?”

Keith nodded again, this time with a small smile that he hoped was reassuring enough.

“He is.”

Somehow, Keith felt like a heavy weight was lifted off his chest when he saw the genuine smile on Lance’s lips.

“Good,” Lance said. “You deserve someone who can treat you well.”

Keith’s heart was in his throat and he wished, he really wished that he could tell Lance that Lance did nothing wrong. That when they were together Lance had always made him feel so safe, so special. So loved.

It was his fault, maybe.

Or should he blame it on fate?

Because was it still his fault if their breakup seemed to give him the good side of things, give him things that he had always dreamt about?

“Thank you, Lance,” he said, hoping that Lance knew that what he meant was far beyond that.

_(Thank you for everything. And I am sorry for everything. I am sorry that it was harder for you than it was for me)_

Keith kept his eyes at Lance. “And you too, Lance. You deserve to be happy.”

_(You deserve the good things in life too)_

Lance’s smile was as soft as the look in his eyes as he nodded.

“Anyway,” Lance said, glancing at the watch on his wrist. “I really have to go now. I’ve promised Hunk that I will drive him to Chicago today.”

“Say hi to him from me, okay?”

“Will do,” Lance said as he stood up, sliding his hands into his pocket. “It was really nice. Meeting you again.”

“Yeah,” Keith said, returning his smile as he also stood up. “We should do this again sometimes.”

Lance chuckled. “Yeah. Sure. Let me know when you have the time between your concerts and traveling around the world.”

Keith opened his mouth to respond to that, but Lance was faster.

“But really,” Lance said, the soft smile was back on his lips. “Keep in touch, okay?”

Keith smiled back at him as he nodded. “Okay. I promise.”

This time, he knew that it was a promise that he would keep.

Lance took a step forward, and gave him a one-arm hug.

“Good luck with everything, okay Keith?”

A nostalgic feeling fleet in his mind as Keith inhaled the smell of ocean breeze from Lance that once used to be so familiar. He patted Lance’s back then pulled away.

“You too, Lance.”

Lance touched his forehead with his finger and gave Keith a small salute. Then he turned around, and walked away. Keith sat down and watched as Lance waved at Shiro. Lance reached for the doorknob. But then he turned his head to where Keith was sitting. He waved at Keith, then he pulled the door, and disappeared.

* * *

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Kudos, comments and feedbacks are loved <3.


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